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There was a sense of impenetrable mystery about Kev Merripen She was obsessed with the tantalizing thought of what it would be like to slip past all his secrets, to reach the extraordinary heart he guarded so closely

Melancholy swept over her as she glanced at the beautiful interior of thewhile htly over the scene So much to enjoy and appreciate, and yet all Win wanted was to be alone with the oing to play the wallflower She was going to dance and laugh and do all the things she had i in her sickbed And if it displeased Merripen or made him jealous, so much the better

Divested of her cloak, Win went forith her sisters They were all dressed in pale satins, Poppy in pink, Beatrix in blue, Aoas unco, as a cooould alht on the top, the bodice low and square, the sleeves short and tight And it felt too heavy froht up in flounces But the one without for so long that she found herself resenting even the slightest constriction Though it was only lightly laced, the corset stiffened her torso and pushed her brsts artificially high It hardly seeo without one

All things considered, however, it seemed worth the discomfort when she saw Merripen’s reaction His face went blank at the sight of her in the low-cut ball gown, his gaze traveling fro from beneath the hem up to her face He stared an extra few h as if they had been cupped by his hands When his eyes finally looked into hers, they flickered with obsidian fire A responsive shiver chased beneath the framework of Win’s corset With difficulty, she looked away from him

The Hathaent farther into the entrance hall, where a chandelier shed sparkling light over the parquetry floor

"What an extraordinary creature," Win heard Dr Harrow aze to the lady of the house, Mrs Annabelle Hunt, as greeting guests

Although Win had never -nized her from descriptions she had heard Mrs Hunt was said to be one of the greatest beauties of England, with her beautifully turned figure and heavily lashed blue eyes, and hair that gleaold But it was her lu

"That’s her husband, standing next to her," Poppy , but very nice"

"I beg to differ," Leo said

"You don’t think he’s inti?" Win asked

"I don’t think he’s nice Whenever I happen to be in the same room as his wife, he looks at me as if he’d like to dismember me"

"Well," Poppy said prosaically, "one can’t fault his judgment" She leaned toward Win and said, "Mr Hunt is besotted with his wife Their e is a love match, you see"

"How unfashionable," Dr Harrow corin

"He even dances with her," Beatrix told Win, "which husbands and wives are never supposed to do But considering Mr Hunt’s fortune, people find reasons to excuse him for such behavior"

"See how small her waist is," Poppy murmured to

Win "And that’s after three children-two of thee boys"

"I will have to lecture Mrs Hunt on the evils of tight-lacing," Dr Harrow said sotto voce, and Win laughed

"I’m afraid the choice between health and fashion is not an easy one for women," she told him "I’ht"

"You hardly need the "Your natural waist is hardly wider than Mrs Hunt’s corseted one"

Win s that whenever she was in his presence, she felt safe and reassured It had been like that ever since she had first ure to her, and to everyone at the clinic But she still had no real sense of him as a flesh-and-blood ether than they were individually

"TheHathaway sister!" Mrs Hunt exclailoved ones

"Not so ht to ood health"

"Mrs Hunt always asks about you," Poppy told Win, "so we’ve kept her inforress"

"Thank you, Mrs Hunt," Win said shyly "I auest at your lovely ho her hands as she spoke to Caraceful manners I think, Mr Rohan, that Miss Hathaill easily attain the popularity of her sisters"

"Next year, I’m afraid," Cam said easily "This ballto Hampshire within the week"

Mrs Hunt made a little face "So soon? But I suppose that is only to be expected Lord Ramsay ant to see his estate"

"Yes, Mrs Hunt" Leo said "I adore bucolic settings One can never view too hter, her husband joined the conversation "Welcome, my lord," Si celebrated throughout London Apparently the gareatly in your absence"

"Then I shall do rinned briefly "You owe quite a lot to this fellow," he said to Leo, turning to shake Merripen’s hand Merripen, as usual, had been standing unobtrusively at the side of the group "According to Westcliff and the other neighboring estate, Merripen hassuccess of the Ramsay estate in a very short time"

"Since the name ’Ramsay’ is so seldom coupled with the word ’success,’" Leo replied, "Merripen’s accomplishment is all the ," Hunt said to Merripen, "we ht find amachine you purchased for the estate With the loco expanding the business into agricultural n for the thresher, as well as a stearicultural process is beco mechanized," Merripen replied "Spindle harvesters, cutters, and binders… many of the prototypes are on display at the exhibition"

Hunt’s dark eyes glinted with interest "I’d like to hear more"

"My husband is endlessly fascinated by"I believe they’ve eclipsed all his other interests"

"Not all," Hunt said softly Solanced at his wife caused her cheeks to flush

A, "Mr Hunt, I would like to introduce Dr Harrow, the physician who helped my sister to recover her health"

"A pleasure, sir," Dr Harrow said, and shook Hunt’s hand

"Likewise," Hunt replied cordially, returning the shake But he gave the doctor an odd, speculative look "You are the Harroho runs the clinic in France?"